The Gift
by kashkow
Summary: Wee/teen-chesters with a lot of John. With all the immigration that the US has seen is it any wonder that more than a few supernatural things hitchhiked along? Sam gets a not so welcome gift to help deal with one.


The Gift

Author's note: As one might guess, I own none of the recognizable characters. I have taken immense liberties with the following: Chinese legends, the Union Pacific railroad, American history, Great Basin National park, timelines, invention dates, the internet, etc. Forgive me if you will. I own nothing but the original characters herein. I apologize for the weird perspective shifts in this story. I have no excuse.

Chapter 1-

John Winchester pushed the book he had been reading away and rubbed his eyes. The small type was killing him, unfortunately you couldn't exactly get a large-type version of most of the reference books that he needed. Winchester was a hunter, a hunter of supernatural things, evil things. He hunted the things that most people didn't even realize existed. For the most part people went on in blissful ignorance until their lives were shattered by one of the evil things that stalked the unknowing populace, shattered as John Winchester's life had been shattered.

His wife had been killed, murdered, slaughtered and pinned by an invisible power against the ceiling of their baby son's nursery, her stomach sliced open by something he never saw. But he did see her burst into flame, burning alive there on the ceiling of their home, the last home he had known in the last ten years. He had escaped the fire, he and his two young sons, Dean then four and Sam, six months. His eyes had been opened to what was out there, to the evil that stalked everyone. He had determined that no other family would be torn apart like his had been, not if he could help it, and he had thrown himself into hunting, dragging his sons with him.

They traveled around North America hunting everything from an Ani Hyuntikwalaski, a Cherokee Lightning spirit, to zombies. In addition to killing the evil things he also trained his sons to survive the hostile environment that their lives had become. His eldest boy, now 14 was his little soldier. Dean had taken to hunting as if he was born to it, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. He followed orders to the letter and was anxious to hunt at his father's side. Sam, on the other hand at 10 and a half, was a reluctant participant at best. He had only known about the supernatural creatures for the last two years and he was less enthused about hunting. But what he lacked in hunting prowess he made up for in researching. Even at his young age Sam was a wiz at ferreting out information about things. John and Dean had done their best to keep Sam out of the family business as long as possible, but Sam's innate curiosity had let the cat out of the bag, and now John was determined that both his boys would be the best hunters possible.

Now they were in Ely, Nevada on the hunt for something killing people in the nearby National Park. So far six people had died; two park-rangers and a family of four, over the space of the last month. There were two witnesses; however their reports did not seem to be helping John narrow down what it was that he was hunting. He had managed, through the use of a fake FBI badge, to get in to see the bodies. He might as well have stuck with the autopsy reports he had 'acquired'. As far as he could tell by looking at the corpses the people had simply dropped dead. There hadn't been so much as a mark on them. The medical examiners were at a loss to pinpoint a cause of death. Their hearts had simply stopped working. Witnesses had seen a 'white haired figure wearing a dress' leaving the area, but that was it.

There were a number of supernatural creatures that could kill people without leaving any obvious clues about what had done it, however they almost always left one or two that could be recognized by the knowledgeable hunter. In this case there was nothing. He had looked through his journal, various books that he had with him, had called several fellow hunters, and still it eluded him. He had sent his boys to the library to look through local newspapers to see if there had been any similar deaths in the past. Sam already had the knack for pulling obscure facts from piles of old papers, but Dean needed the practice. In this case he could count on Sam to keep Dean on track just like he counted on Dean to keep Sam on track with the physical training. Maybe if they could find a pattern it would give him a clue about what they were chasing, and once he knew what it was he could figure out how to kill it.

He looked at the clock. His boys should be back soon. The library was four blocks away and the boys had gone there with the understanding that they would be back before dark, which John had reason to know was in about ten minutes. Even as he thought it he heard the sound of a key in the lock. He could always count on Dean to follow orders. He watched as the door swung open to reveal his two boys.

Dean was tall for his age with short spiked blond hair. He had his mother's light coloring and her freckles, which Dean felt were much too girly. He was just now starting to fill out into his teenage form, with lean muscles starting to show and sharp green eyes. In contrast to his older brother, Sam was still slightly pudgy and small for his age. His hair was a chestnut brown, and despite John's constant disapproval he wore it long with bangs that fell across his blue green eyes. Both boys wore clothes from the second hand store. Dean's clothes, jeans and a Judas Priest t-shirt under a leather jacket like John's were just starting to be too small. Sam's on the other hand were all slightly too big, jeans with a t-shirt and a flannel shirt over it. The army jacket he wore over it all had the sleeves folded back several times and fell almost to Sam's knees.

The boys trooped into the room and put their backpacks on the bed that they were sharing. John could tell from Sam's demeanor that the boys had something, or at least thought they did. Dean was trying to be 'cool' but John could read the excitement in older son as well. The boys came to stand before him, unconsciously standing at attention, Sam a little less effectively than Dean.

"Boys, how was your time at the library?" He asked because Sam was practically vibrating with whatever news he had. Typically, his older brother was the one that managed to speak first.

"We know what it is dad! It's a giant sheep."

John blinked; a giant sheep? He noticed that Sam was giving his brother one of his patented 'bitch-faces' as Dean had deemed it, looking at his brother as if he were completely mad. Catching John's look Sam took it upon himself to straighten out his brother's mistake. With an exaggerated roll of his eyes in his brother's direction Sam addressed his father.

"It's a 'Jiang Shi', a reanimated corpse from Chinese legend. Kind of like a zombie but instead of eating people it sucks the qi out of their body, killing them without leaving a mark. They're made when someone is prematurely buried. Because they are trapped in the darkness their skin becomes white as does their hair. They usually have really long nails, kinda like Fu Manchu. And as they were Chinese they were probably wearing a Chinese robe which would look like a dress to someone who didn't know what they were seeing."

"You are such a geek, Sammy." Dean said with a sneer that John could see hid a quiet pride. Dean was never jealous of his brother's prowess at researching things. He seemed to glory in the blossoming of his brother's intellect.

"Why would a Chinese animated corpse be in the north eastern part of Nevada?" John questioned. He had never heard of a Jiang Shi, and had no idea how to kill it, but if his boys had found this much info in the small library there must be something somewhere. Sam was practically bouncing on his toes as he was almost bursting to share the information he had gathered.

"It's because of the railroad! In the 1860's because of the civil war there were very few white workers available to work on the railroad, so they brought in the cheap Chinese laborers from the west coast. For the most part they were pretty unchanged from when they were still in China. They had the same beliefs and they brought their customs, legends, and their monsters with them. They did most of the work on the section of the railroad that ran across the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Nevada. The original tracks for the Central Pacific ran just north of where the people were killed. There are still a relatively large number of descendants from the original workers here in Ely, so the legends have been kept alive here."

John considered the information. It made sense. It was well known among hunters that as the various nationalities had immigrated into the America's they brought with them their legends and evils. Leprechauns from Ireland, genii from the Arabic nations, Kitsune from Japan, and now it appeared Jiang Shi from China.

"So, this thing feeds on what?"

"Cheese." Dean supplied, earning another bitch-face from Sam. John was pretty sure that the older boy was messing with his younger brother, but he was never quite positive.

"Qi" the younger brother corrected, pronouncing it as 'key'. "It's the life force everyone has. If it gets low, you get sick. If something takes all of it you die, and there wouldn't be any marks or anything to show what happened. Your heart just wouldn't work anymore, and the neurons in your brain would stop firing."

"And why now?" He was incredibly proud of the information his boys had found. This time Dean was first off the mark.

"They just opened up the camp ground there at the Lehman Caves. It opened two months ago, but there was like a monsoon spring so no one was here. Those four people that were killed were like the first ones that camped there. The books that Sammy found say this Jiang thing likes to stay in caves and caverns. The caves were just fixed up for people to tour. Before that they had them blocked off for almost 25 years, since they found them."

"Have there been murders before?"

"There haven't been any people." Dean said disdainfully. "It's in the middle of god awful nowhere. There isn't anything except a ranger outpost within 25 miles of the place. Why anyone would want to stay there I ain't got a clue. I mean what's to see in a nasty old cave anyway?"

"Stalagmites and stalactites, blind cave crickets, bats, ohlms..."

"What the hell is an Ohlm? You made that up."

"It's an amphibian that lives in caves. It has external gills and lungs and recessed eyes that have the skin grown over them."

"Where do you learn this stuff, Sammy?"

"They're called books, Dean. There are some things that are written in something thicker than a magazine."

"Some of us have more important things to do than learn about cave things, right dad?"

"That's all very interesting Sammy, but your brother is right. The important thing is that this thing is killing people and we have to stop it. Did any of the books you found have any indication on how to kill this thing?"

"You trap it in a mirrored box, or you can kill it with the hooves of a black donkey. Most of the things say that you have to stab it with a peach wood sword or branch, or you can use a stonemason's awl. But the real problem is that the Jiang Shi won't come out in the light, and it has to be killed in the dark, and I mean total dark. If you can see it, you can't kill it." John rubbed his hand over his stubbly cheeks. How the hell could he kill something that he could not see? And where was he going to get a mirrored box, hooves of a black donkey, or a sword made from a peach tree? Why couldn't the damn thing die from the regular iron, silver, or fire? He noticed that Sam was still vibrating with the need to share information and he dropped his hand and looked at the boy. Sam took that as his cue to continue.

"I looked in the county phone book. There's a peach orchard less than 80 miles outside of Ely, in a place called Steptoe. The park is almost exactly halfway between here and there. We could get branches from the orchard and make spears outta them and use those. I couldn't find any stonemasons, but I guess we could find someplace that makes headstones, they're kinda what stonemasons were then." John felt a proud smile growing on his face and he reached out to clap a hand on his son's small shoulder. The boy was quite the problem solver.

"Good boy, Sam. We'll take a trip up there tomorrow, and plan to stop at the park on the way back." He said firmly. Dean shifted nervously.

"But what about the killing it in the dark thing, Dad? How we gonna gank it if we can't see it when we do it?" John shook his head.

"Not sure yet son. Might have to see about getting some of those night-vision glasses the military uses." Sam looked thoughtful.

"Not sure that's going to work. They still work on light, it's just infrared not visible spectrum. Technically it's still light and still seeing. The legend says you can't see it at all if you want to kill it."

"Yeah well they didn't know about infrared night vision in ancient China, geek-boy. Bet ya if they had it would have been written in the scrolls along with the hooves." Dean assured him with a shove on the shoulder. He was anxious to be able to play with something like that, and "doubting Sammy" was not going to get in the way of them getting some new toys.

"I have a friend who can loan us a couple of sets of night vision goggles. I'll call him and have him overnight them to the post office in Steptoe. What's behind the mirrored box thing? What does it do?"

"They were human once, but they don't know what they've become, so when they are confronted with their image in the mirror they can't move."

"But all this has to happen in the dark, so what good is a mirror?" Dean asked logically. John, being ignored by his sons, leaned back in his chair and watched the exchange. Sam huffed as if the question was completely stupid.

"Because you can have the light when you use the mirrors, it's when you go to kill them that it has to be dark. You use the mirrors to trap it, and kind of make it human again, then you kill it before it can get away." He said logically.

"They live in a cave, how are you supposed to get a mirrored box the size of a man into a cave? And where do you get a box with mirrors on the inside anyway. It isn't like you can go to Walmart and get one in the monster killing section. And don't tell me that the ancient Chinese could either. They didn't even have Walmart."

"It doesn't have to be an actual _box_, Dean. That would mean six mirrors and you'd never get it in there." Said his long suffering little brother. "It just has to have four pieces of mirror so that no matter which way it looks it sees itself. That's what slows it down enough to kill it, or to keep it from killing you." John was considering things as his boys argued. Yes, he could see how this could work, a few calls, a few purchases on one of the credit cards and they just might be able to do this. He stood up and the boys broke off from their discussion.

"Let's get something to eat and then we're going down to that flea market thing at the civic center. I think they're open till nine." He didn't explain what they were going to get, but he saw Dean's eyes light up at the mention of food. His eldest could pack away more chow and more often then anyone he had ever seen. The kid should weigh three hundred pounds given the amount of food he could eat. Sammy looked less enthused, but followed along as John led the way out of the room. If everything came together they just might get this done in the next two days before anyone else could be hurt.

Chapter 2-

Wondering around the flea market an hour later Dean was having a fine time. There were all kinds of things to look at, and there were a fair amount of other teenagers there, including some damn fine looking girls. He had already chatted up several, and if he could convince his dad to let him he was invited to a party that was starting in an hour. It wasn't like he had to watch Sammy tonight, since dad was here, and he hadn't been able to do anything on his own for almost a month now, what with traveling and watching his brother as their father hunted.

Dean had high hopes for this hunt. It had sounded like his father was getting at least two pairs of the night vision goggles, and that meant that he was going to be included on the hunt this time. He had gone with his father a few times already, leaving Sammy in the care of Pastor Jim Murphy. Of course this time Sammy was along, and Pastor Murphy was several hundred miles away, so he wasn't sure how this was going to work out. It was his dearest wish to hunt with his father, but not if it meant leaving Sammy unprotected. That was his first priority after all, keeping Sam safe. It had been since he was four years old, and he was pretty damn good at it if he did say so himself. He was grinning at a pretty little blond in a pair of criminally short shorts when he saw the girl's eyes shift to the side. He tore his eyes away from her legs and looked to his left where his little brother was standing next to him, evidently having decided that none of the books in the last booth had been interesting enough to spend what little pocket money he had.

"Beat it" He hissed at his brother who looked at him in a puzzled way and then his eyes shifted to the blond girl. Sam's hazel eyes rolled and he looked back at Dean.

"Really, Dean? She's got to be at least 16. She'll never give you the time of day once she learns that you're only 14." He said in a low voice. Dean turned up the gain on his smile at the girl who twirled a lock of hair around her finger and smiled back at him. He elbowed Sam toward another booth with a bunch of books.

"Go look at some more books. I got other things to do. I've been invited to a party later and I think I can talk dad into it. I may even have me a date." The girl was definitely interested. Dean was pretty sure he could sell her on him being sixteen. He was tall for his age and the workouts his father required of them had put a lot of muscle on his frame. Sam persisted in standing at his side however.

"Dad said I was supposed to stay with you until he could find what he was looking for." Dean was the one to roll his eyes this time.

"He didn't say you had to stay stuck to my side like a friggin Siamese twin. Now go over there like a good little geek and let me work my magic." Dean said with a jerk of his chin at a nearby both that was filled with boxes of books. "You can even watch and pick up a few tips. I mean you can't stay a geek-boy forever. Sooner or later you are going to have to hit puberty."

"Ew, just ew. And it's 'conjoined twins', not 'Siamese twins'." The little brat said with another eye roll.

"Fine, conjoined twins, brainiac. Now get your ass in there. I'll be right over there." He pointed to the booth and nodded his head toward the girl. Sam huffed and trudged off toward the books as if he were being punished, even though Dean knew he was probably looking forward to it. No one did drama like Sammy. He turned up his grin another notch to 'stun' and sauntered to where the girl was standing. She was just under his height, and her eyes were a deep blue. He leaned on the wall next to her.

An hour later John Winchester came down the aisle where he had last seen his boys. He had made several purchases and had already taken what he had gotten back to the Impala. He was now coming to get his sons. He spotted Sammy's brown curls in a booth hunched over a box of books, reading a large one that he had obviously pulled from the box. No surprise there. A second later he found his other son, twenty feet away chatting up a local girl who was wearing just barely enough clothes to cover the important bits. She looked at least 16. John rolled his eyes, no surprise there either. He walked over to where Sam was and put a hand on his shoulder. Sam looked up at him and then toward Dean. He sighed.

"I think he wants to go to a party tonight. _She_ thinks he's sixteen." His tone indicated how stupid he thought the girl was to be fooled by Dean's act.

John considered his older son. He was well aware of the burden he had placed on his son's slim shoulders so long ago when he had told him to take care of his brother. He had never expected the complete dedication that the boy had shown over the years to that order, but he had come to count on it. He also tried as best he could to allow his boys the chance to BE boys. Sammy had had eight years of innocence, and Dean still tried to make his life as normal as possible as they moved around. But his older son had not had that benefit. Now as he watched his son conversing with the older girl he felt the same regret that he always felt when he allowed it to come up. He had dragged his boys down into this life with him, and he would be damned for that, he was sure. Dean should be going to school parties and trying out for baseball, not watching his brother and fighting off evil things that went bump in the night. His hand tightened on Sam's shoulder and the boy looked up at him.

"He didn't get to go to that game he wanted to see in the last town we were in. You had to go after that werewolf and that meant he had to stay with me. You promised him, but he understood. Maybe this time he could go, just this once?" John looked down at the earnest hazel eyes, so like his own, and felt humbled for a moment at how his boys looked out for one another. Who would have thought that Sam would be pleading for his brother to go out and party?

"You think we can rub along for a few hours without him?" John asked with a small smile. Sam nodded his head and smiled back. John glanced down at the book that Sam had been reading and was only slightly surprised to see that it was a book on Chinese legends. It was a large book and obviously old. The illustrations were faded and the pages yellowed. He looked at the cover and it was marked .50. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two quarters. He handed them to Sam who took them with wide eyes. John felt like something of a heel at that moment as he realized that the last time he had bought his son something on the spur of the moment that wasn't food or clothing had been before he had learned about what lurked in the darkness and what his father really hunted. The dimpled grin that covered his son's face as he took the two coins was a reward that he almost felt he didn't deserve. He scooped up the book and scampered toward the booth's owner. John watched him for a moment then turned back toward his older boy.

He came up on the two from behind Dean, but he was pleased to see that even while he was busy chatting up the girl that his son was aware that he was being approached and threw a look over his shoulder. When he saw John he straightened away from the wall and said something to the girl who watched John approach with wide eyes. John knew his appearance could be daunting, especially with his stubble and well-worn clothes. He dredged up a smile and saw the girl relax a little. He didn't use his own dimples all that often, at least he hadn't since he had met the boys' mother so long ago, but he had seen the power of Sammy's, and he was not above using them himself if the situation called for it.

"Hey, dad. This is Cheryl. She's a member of the cheerleading squad at the high school. I told her that I was going to be starting there this year, and she invited me to a party." Dean's eyes were incredibly hopeful. John looked from his son to the girl, and while he had some serious reservations about turning his son loose with what amounted to an older woman, he had few illusions about exactly what his son had already been up to where girls were concerned. They had had all the talks, with a wide eyed-and grossed out, Sam listening in. Dean had assured him that he had not yet had intercourse, though there were definite indications that he had made a damn good try at everything else, and he hoped that it would be several more years before his boy took that last step, but John knew he could not police the boy's sex life. He also could not deny the boy some fun when so much of his life had become duty and training and death. He nodded. The smile that lit Dean's face was incandescent and John felt his heart swell a little that he could make his son this happy with such a small thing like a teenage party in a strange town. He was about to turn away and collect Sam when he saw Dean's focus slip to the side and the smile dropped off his face as if had never been.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing to my brother?!" Before John could even turn to see what was happening Dean had bounded by him and was across the 30 feet that had separated them and the booth where Sam had been paying for the book. As John turned he took in what Dean had seen and was already in motion.

Sam was on the floor, book at his side, one hand on his cheek as if he had been hit. Standing over him was an old Chinese man. He was bent with age, and had a scraggly beard and seemed to be leaning on one metal crutch that had rags tied to it at various places. He had what appeared to be a gourd hung by a string looped around his chest. Before John could catch up Dean was in the old man's face, pushing him back from his fallen sibling.

"What the hell did you do to my brother? If you've hurt him I'll…!" John grabbed hold of Dean's jacket and dragged him back before he could go after the old man further. The old man, for his part, was standing there scowling at them. Keeping his hold on his older boy he looked down at Sam who was pushing himself up and to his feet.

"Sammy, you okay?" He asked. The boy seemed to be okay and had dropped his hand from his face, revealing a red patch that experience told John was going to bruise soon. He felt his own anger rise, but it cooled when Sam rushed forward in front of Dean and pushed him back from where he was still trying to get to the old man despite John's hold.

"Dean!" The boy cried. "Leave him alone. He didn't do anything! Dean!" Sam grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him back. John helped out, gaining several feet from the old man, who was holding his ground and watching them with narrowed eyes.

"Then why were you on the ground, Sammy, and what the hell happened to your face?" Dean growled with an evil look at the old man. He took his eyes from the stranger long enough to tilt Sam's head and look at his cheek. Sam scowled and jerked his head away.

"Deeeeean," He whined, "I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself."

"Oh yeah, it sure didn't look like it a second ago! Looked like old Fu Manchu here had you on the ropes." Sam rolled his eyes as Dean glared at the old man again.

"I ran into _him_, Dean. Not the other way around. I was looking at the book and wasn't watching where I was going. I hit my face on the ground when I fell over. That's all. No big deal."

"It's a big deal to me, Sammy. If you're covering for the old fart…"

"Well it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm telling you what happened. Now, back off." John felt it was time to step in. He believed what Sam was saying, and that he wasn't just covering for the old man to avoid trouble. He pulled Dean around by his hold on his jacket and pushed him toward where the blond girl was still standing, watching it all with big eyes that looked strangely admiring. John almost rolled his own eyes. Nothing a teenage girl liked better than a hero standing up for his little brother.

"Go to your party, Dean. I'll take care of your brother. Be back by midnight." At first he thought Dean was going to defy his order and head back toward the old man, but he saw Dean look at Sam, who gave him a nod, and then at the girl. Evidently Dean saw the look in her eyes too, and John saw a smirk forming. He shook his head and looked around at his younger son, only to find that he had approached the old man. As he watched his boy gave a small bow and spoke to the old man.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to run into you, and my brother was only protecting me, even though I didn't need it. I hope that I didn't hurt you." He spoke with his usual earnest tone, and John could see that the old man seemed to lose some of his wariness. Sam held out his hand hesitantly. The old man seemed to study him for a moment then reached out a knurled hand and took the boy's not much smaller hand in his own.

"You are a good boy, not quick to anger like your brother, nor willing to shift the blame to another for your own shortcomings. You will be a scholar and while your path will not be easy you will triumph in the end. Your family does good work for little reward." The old man said in heavily accented English. He pulled Sam forward, using their joined hands. The crutch was in his armpit and he reached his other arm forward and placed his hand on top of Sam's head. "A gift to you, use it wisely before it is gone."

John had stepped forward as soon as the man had pulled Sam toward him, but before he had taken another step the old man had released the boy and with a speed and dexterity that belied his obvious lameness disappeared into the crowd. Sam was looking after him with a strange look on his face. John reached down and scooped up the book that Sam had dropped and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Sam looked up at him and frowned.

"That was kinda weird." He said looking after the old man who had disappeared. John nodded and handed him the book. Sam clutched it to his chest and allowed his father to steer him toward the door. They could see Dean walking toward the door with the girl hanging on his arm and Sam shook his head at his brother's antics. Who wanted to go out with a girl? And all that sex stuff dad had been talking about, yuck. He was never going to do anything like that, ever. At the entrance Dean and his new friend disappeared with a crowd of other teens, off to the party. John kept a hand on Sam as they went to the Impala, and he felt Sam hesitate as he got a look at what John had put into the back seat. Four five foot mirrors were just barely fitted into the seat. Sam looked from the mirrors to his dad with a smile.

"So you make a box." He said, grasping the idea immediately. John smiled down at him and ruffled his hair, pushing him towards the passenger side.

"Yep. Now all we need is those night vision glasses and a few sharpened peach branches and we'll be set." They both got in the car and he turned the big black vehicle toward the hotel. He looked over at his son as the passing street lights formed a mosaic over his young face. When had his little baby grown into this pre-teen? It seemed only yesterday he had held a small bundle in his arms, bounced a toddler on his knee, helped steady new legs as they walked across the motel room, only yesterday. He grinned at Sam.

"How about we stop and get one of those sundaes that were on the menu the diner. I think they're open till ten or so?" The answering grin matched his own.

Chapter 3-

They had had their sundaes and returned to the motel. Sam had spent most of the time reading various parts of his new book, sharing little bits with John, who listened indulgently. At the hotel Sam took his book and sat down on the bed he was sharing with Dean. It was one of the better ones in which they had stayed recently, the air conditioner actually worked and the carpet, while not anywhere near new, was at least clean as were the linens. Evidently over on this side of town away from the highway the owners of the motel did what they could to get business. He had noticed at the diner that Sam had been rubbing his eyes, and he thought that the boy must be getting tired, though he was used to late nights and strange sleeping hours. He sat down beside the boy and patted the slim back.

"Why don't you get ready for bed, Tiger? You can read your new book a little before you go to sleep. Okay?" Sam nodded and got his night things out of his duffle and wondered into the bathroom, still rubbing at his eyes. John sat down at the table and shuffled his maps around. He was going to have to set up camp in the same camp ground where the family had been killed. There wasn't any kind of motel anywhere near the caves, and he didn't want to leave Sam alone in some motel so far from where he and Dean were. He could protect the camp well enough, Chinese or not, John was confident that it would not be able to cross a salt line, and the recent murders should be enough to keep all but the most oblivious campers at bay. The campgrounds were five minutes hike from the caves, which would make it easier to get the mirrors there during the day. Dean could help him with that while the younger boy could stay at the camp during the daylight hours and also later while Dean and John went after the Jiang Shi.

His planning was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking in the bathroom, and Sam crying out. He surged to his feet and was at the door to the bathroom in an instant. He grabbed the handle and tried to turn it, but it was locked. He stepped back and slammed into the door with his shoulder. The cheap lock gave way almost instantly and the door swung back against the wall. Thankfully Sam was not in the way, and was instead curled up in a ball near the shower. John threw himself down by his son.

"Sam! What's wrong?" He noticed that there was broken glass, it looked like one of the motel drinking glasses, on the floor near the sink, but there was no blood so he was pretty sure Sam had not cut himself. The boy raised his head when he spoke and looked in his direction. John almost recoiled in horror as he saw his little boy's eyes. The usually hazel orbs were clouded over like an old man with cataracts.

"Daddy!" His independent boy who had not called him daddy since he was seven held out his arms desperately and John scooped him in against his chest. "I can't see! It went dark all of a sudden. I can't see at all!" John forced the boy back slightly and gripped his chin, looking at his eyes. The cloudiness covered the entire eye, not just the outer ring of color.

"Did you splash something in your eyes?" He asked, looking around for anything that could have caused this. There was only some toothpaste and some deodorant on the countertop, along with Sam's toothbrush and a wet wash cloth. The boy shook his head.

I...I was going to brush my teeth and my eyes started itching really bad. I tried to wash them out with the wash cloth, but then it all went black. Am I...am I blind?" the boy sobbed. Tears were falling from the boy's eyes, running down his chubby cheeks. John rose to his feet, pulling his son with him and holding him like he had so many years ago when he was a baby.

"Come on, We'll take you to the clinic down the road." He said calmly, even though his own thoughts were just shy of panic. Sam was sobbing quietly.

"Dean…I want Dean…" he whispered under his breath, and John tried not to be hurt that even while he was carrying his boy to medical aid that it was his brother that the boy really wanted. He pushed that aside however as he had to remind himself that it was his own plan that had pushed the two to such closeness and interdependence, though he had never imagined it would go as far as it had.

"Sorry, Tiger, your brother is at that party. Don't think he'll be back till curfew. Hopefully by then you'll be feeling a lot better." He scooped up a blanket from one of the beds and wrapped his pajama bottom clad son in it and then after picking up his keys headed out to the Impala. Sam would have nothing of being put in the back seat, and John allowed the boy to lay across the front seat with his head on John's leg as he drove. It was only a few minutes down the road to the free clinic that he had seen earlier in the week, and he pulled into a space nearby. A few moments later he was shouldering his way into the still busy clinic and made his way to the desk.

"My son can't see. It came on really sudden, one minute he was good then he said they started itching and everything went black. His eyes are clouded over." He reported to the woman at the desk succinctly. She looked at Sam with concern, and nodded toward the waiting area where five other people were sitting.

"Please take a seat and fill out these papers. The doctor will see you as soon as possible." She handed John a clipboard. Well familiar with the need to wait in these clinics, but desperately wanting to know what was wrong with his boy, John complied. It was awkward, trying to fill out the papers as he held Sam on his lap, but he managed to fill in the newest fake information and their newest fake name. As he listened to the soft sobs of his son who was leaning against him he once again felt the weight of despair and remorse that this is what he had brought on his sons. He could not even bring his blinded son to a regular hospital where he might get treated more quickly because they had no insurance under the current alias he was using and he would not be able to pay the deductible at any rate except with a fake credit card. He tightened the one arm he was keeping around Sam and the boy snuggled harder against him.

It was almost half an hour before the nurse called them back to the small exam room. He carried Sam in and placed him on the table. He kept a hand on the boy's shoulder as the nurse removed the blanket and took his vitals and then noted them on the chart before the doctor came in. He noticed that his once chubby boy was starting to show the effects of the training that he had started him on. The ribs were a little more prominent and his arms were starting to show some muscle instead of just the rounded look of childhood. The doctor, an older man in his sixties, picked up the chart and read over what the nurse had written. He then turned to Sam and John and rolled a tall stool over in front of the table, sitting on it so that he was at the same level as Sam. He studied the boy's eyes from a distance then looked at John. "I'm Tom Healy, and you are Mr. Wilson and Sam?"

"John, and yes, this is Sam."

"You say that this came on suddenly?" The doctor asked doubtfully. "And there were no chemicals in the area, no fumes from something." John shook his head. "Was he exposed to something earlier, maybe he was outside playing?"

"No, we were down at the flea market and then went to the diner for some ice cream, then we went back to the motel where we are staying, He was in my sight before that for almost an hour. He was brushing his teeth at the sink in the bathroom. He said they started itching and then everything went black. I broke into the room and there was nothing else." John was beginning to wish he had taken a moment to look for hex bags or some sort of cursed item, but Sam had to be his first priority.

The doctor frowned and looked back at Sam. "Sam, My name is Doctor Healy. I am going to touch your face and we are going to see if we can help you out here. Okay?" He asked. Sam sniffed and leaned back against his father first, but then he nodded. The doctor carefully grasped Sam's chin and tilted his head up toward the overhead light. After examining the haze for a moment that way he then lowered Sam's chin and pulled out a lighted instrument. "Sam, I am going to shine a bright light into your eyes and look inside them. I want you tell me if you see anything at all when I do so." He did as he said, but Sam did not speak out. John's heart sank even further as the doctor's frown deepened. The doctor turned off the light and rolled back from Sam. He then proceeded to try rinsing Sam's eyes with saline solution and then with another solution specifically made for the eyes. After there was no improvement he sat for another few moments then sighed.

He looked at John. "May I speak to you out in the hallway Mr. Uh…John?"

Sam grabbed at John's shirt, hands strong with desperation. "No, don't leave me here like this! I can't…" John put his arm around the boy and tried to calm him.

"It's okay, I'm not leaving." He said to his son and then he looked at the doctor. "You'll have to talk to me here. I won't leave him." The doctor looked doubtful, but then sighed.

"Other than the obvious film over the entire surface of the eye I can not see any physical damage to the eye itself or to the optic nerve. The film itself is unlike anything I have seen. It has the general appearance of a cataract of the lens however it covers the sclera, the outer layer of the eyeball instead. I am frankly now outside my comfort zone on this. I have some contacts over at the hospital and I can get you in to see the top ophthalmologist in town, but it will be tomorrow I'm afraid. Specialists don't work these kind of hours."

"So there is nothing you can do?" John asked. What the hell was he going to do now? His son was BLIND, and he could not afford to take him in to the specialist, who he was sure would want insurance information up front, or at the very least some evidence that they could pay. Healy was shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. I just do not know where to go from here. I know of nothing that could cause something like this to happen in the space of time you indicate, or at all when it comes right down to it. This is way above my pay grade. The best I can offer you at this point is that there is no obvious damage to the eye or the nerves."

John nodded his head and bundled Sam back into the blanket. His boy was silent, his face as blank as his eyes. Shock, John supposed, and he wondered just how Dean was going to take all this. His little brother had been fine only hours before and now….

He drove them back to the hotel, though this time Sam sat up in the front seat, hunched against the passenger door, clouded eyes blank. John pretended not to see the silent tears that ran down the too pale cheeks and to not hear the slight sniffles. His heart was breaking with every one though. There had to be some supernatural explanation. Some sort of curse, some kind of attack on him by someone or something. Maybe a witch or some sort of demon. He had warded the room like always, but they had been out. Maybe something human, like a witch had gotten in while they were out and planted hex bags. He determined to search the room from top to bottom when they got back, after he made Sam as comfortable as possible that was. They pulled up to the hotel and into a spot in front of the door and as he turned off the ignition his eyes caught the time. It was just after midnight and that meant….

His eyes were drawn to the room as the door flew open and Dean practically sprang out. John noticed that Dean was holding his gun, held surreptitiously down against his leg, and he felt a surge of pride for his son's training. He was about to open the door and sooth his oldest when beside him Sam sat up away from the door and turned his face toward where Dean was standing outside the car. There was enough light that John could see a frown on his youngest son's face then which slowly morphed into a trembling chinned look that promised incipient tears.

"D..Dean" the boy nearly whimpered. John leaned back in surprise. Dean's approach to the car had been silent, and it was obvious that Sam was still unable to see, yet he somehow _knew_ his brother was there. John reached over and tuned Sam's face toward him, using his other hand to indicate to Dean that he was to stay put where his was. He was peripherally aware of his eldest's puzzled look as he looked into Sam's face.

"Sam," he asked, "how did you know Dean was there?" he asked. "Can you see?" Sam's head shook in the negative but his eyebrows drew down into a frown and John could practically hear the gears turning in his smart little boy's head. The answer when it came was hesitant.

"I…it just….._feels_ like Dean is right over there. I mean its…like when I….I'm s..scared and he lets me lean up against him. It makes me feel…safe and….It just feels like _Dean_ there. "

John's mind whirled. How could his boy be sensing his brother? If he had been suspicious of supernatural causes before, now he was doubly sure, whatever this was, it was not natural. He pushed open the door and looked at Dean who was practically vibrating with curiosity.

"Dean, Step back into the room and close the door." He ordered. Dean looked from him to Sam in puzzlement and opened his mouth to ask questions, but John cut him off. "Do it now, Dean." The boy scowled, but did as ordered, closing the door with a bit more force than necessary. Ignoring the attitude for now, John turned back to the car, leaning in to look at Sam. "Can you feel him now, Sam?" He asked. Sam cocked his head as if he were listening, or concentrating. He shrugged.

"Kinda, it's like….a tickle but I know it's a good tickle, if you know what I mean. It feels like…._home_ is that way." John wasn't really sure he understood exactly what Sam meant, but he did understand enough.

"Okay, let's try something else. You stay here for a minute okay?" he asked. Sam seemed to have forgotten his earlier tears in the wake of this new revelation, but he did not want the boy to panic. Sam nodded and John headed toward the room after carefully closing and locking the driver's side door. There was no way he was leaving his boy exposed, even to try to solve a part of this puzzle. He pushed into the room, and Dean was in his face almost instantly.

"Where have you guys been? Is something wrong with Sam? Why is he still in the car? Are we leaving now?" the question came like a machine gun spitting out bullets and John had to reach out and grab hold of Dean's arm to keep him from heading out the door to Sam.

"I'll answer your questions in a minute, Dean. For now I need you to help me out with something. Go in the bathroom and close the door, get as far away from the door as you can."

"What..?"

"I said I'll answer you in a minute. Just do what I ask." John interrupted. Dean gave a frustrated huff and a bitch-face worthy of his younger brother and went into the bathroom, closing the door. John gave him a moment to move to the back of the room and then went back out, carefully closing the door to the room. He moved back to the car going to the passenger side. As he did so he noticed that Sam seemed to be tracking his movement from the door and around the front of the Impala. Huh.

He unlocked and opened the door and crouched down to his son's level. Sam was looking in his direction with a puzzled expression. "Sam, can you feel your brother now?" he asked. Sam shook his head.

"No. It went away, but I can feel you. You're like…you're like Dean, but…but different….When you went away from the car you were _there_ all of a sudden, and then I could feel the two of you. Then Dean just….faded away and you came back." He said. "Dad…how…how am I doing this? What is this?"

"I don't know Sammy. But we will figure it out, I promise. Now let's get inside before your brother dies of curiosity." John said. He reached in and drew his son out of the car, pulling him up into his arms. He locked up the car and went into the hotel room. As he went he realized that it would not be much longer that he could carry his baby like this. They were both growing so fast.

He sat Sam on the bed furthest from the door and pounded a hand against the bathroom door to signal that Dean could come out. The boy must have crossed the bathroom in one jump as the door opened almost immediately and Dean charged out.

"What the hell, dad? " He practically growled and John was about to remind him to watch his tone when Dean caught sight of Sam and his eyes. "What the f…. Sammy?" Dean was instantly as his brother's side, hands holding on to his face as he looked into the clouded eyes. "What happened?" He demanded of John. Pushing aside his ire at being so addressed John sank onto the other bed watching as Sam snuggled into Dean's one arm hug, the novelty of their discovery fading as he was reminded of his loss. John met Dean's green gaze.

"I don't know what caused it, but Sam is blind. One minute he could see and then his eyes itched and he was blind. I took him to the clinic and the doctor said he has never seen anything like it and wants us to go to a specialist at the hospital tomorrow."

"Screw tomorrow! Why can't we take him there now?" Dean said, his eyes going back to his now silently crying little brother. He used his thumbs to clear away the tears. "It'll be okay Sammy, we'll figure this out." Sam nodded to him, taking courage from his brother's assurance. "Dad?" Dean asked, looking back at his father for explanation as to why they were not already on their way to the hospital or wherever this specialist was.

"We can't go to the hospital, Dean. You know we don't have any insurance right now. I have some coming in another name, but it will probably be another month before it kicks in. But…" John could see Dean's face clouding over as he spoke.

"So what, we just leave him like this 'cause we don't have any money?" He demanded, interrupting. John reflected that while Dean might be his perfect soldier most of the time, when it came to Sam, that all went out the window pretty fast. He put a hand on Dean's knee, putting some force in his grip. The reminder was enough to make Dean's cheeks color, but there was still defiance in his eyes as he looked from John to Sam. John sighed. Time to drop the next bomb.

"I think that it is supernatural somehow. Some type of curse. We need to search the room for hex bags or any kind of cursed item that might have been placed here while we were out."

"You mean some witch bitch may have cursed my little brother?" Dean asked anger in his voice. "I'll burn her and her altar down to ashes and then burn them again for good measure."

"I don't know who or what caused it, Dean. That's what we are going to find out. Now, help me search the room." John ordered, not bothering to comment on Dean's language. He listened with half an ear as Dean talked Sam into following him around the room by holding onto his arm so that he could search. He could not but be moved by the trust that Sam showed in his brother by fearlessly allowing himself to be led. If this had happened to him he would have been panicked and untrusting to the extreme. He tore his eyes away from his boys and went back to searching the room.

Twenty minutes later John was forced to admit that there were no hex bags here. Both he and Dean had gone over the small room twice and there was nothing. John sat on the bed and watched as Dean sat on the other with Sam who was clinging like a limpet to his brother. The younger boy had stopped crying, and was making an effort to be as 'grown up' as possible in the face of this devastating blow. John tried to think. Okay, they were not hexed, so that meant that it had happened somewhere else. But where, and what about the strange 'feeling' that Sam had described earlier when he had located Dean? He had never heard about anything like this. He reviewed their evening before Sam had gone blind.

"Sam, when that old man touched you, did you feel anything?" he asked. That was the only thing that could really be considered strange, and when he thought about it, very coincidental since they were evidently here after a Chinese creature. There had been other Chinese people in the crowd at the flea market, but certainly no one like the old man. Sam's faced screwed up in thought but then he shook his head.

"No. His hand was warm, but not really hot or anything. Do you think….?" Sam didn't finish the question but John answered any way.

"I don't know son. We have to look at everything and since there are no hex bags we need to consider direct contact and some sort of curse." John hesitated. He didn't really want to subject his son to any more tonight, and he knew that Dean was not going to like this, but it had to be done. "Sammy I need you to take off your cloths and let me look you over. Usually when you're cursed there is some sort of mark left behind." He could see Sam's face pale then flame in embarrassment.

Dean would strip down bare assed in the middle of a town square if he felt like it, and not be embarrassed in the slightest. He had been that way from when he was a toddler. But as open as Dean was Sam was closed. He didn't want anyone to see him without clothes, even his brother. He always closed the bathroom door when getting dressed and never wondered around in just a towel like both his brother and John himself did. It was another remnant of his Mary that he saw in his boys. She too had been incredibly straight-laced about when and where she would shed her clothes. The first time three year old Sammy had refused to let Dean take his clothes off to help him put on his pajamas and had stormed off into the bathroom to 'do self' John had almost cried at the remnant of his dead wife alive and well in their little boy.

He watched as Sam first shook his head but then after Dean bent over and whispered something in the younger boy's ear he reluctantly nodded and stood up. Dean stood with him and steered him towards the bathroom.

"I'll look dad. So anything that looks funny, not like a bruise or something, right?" Dean asked casually, as if John had already agreed to let his older boy take this on. John stared at Dean as he turned back from the doorway. There was that look again, the one that said that he was going to do what was right for Sam, not necessarily what John wanted done. John caved.

"You'll know it. It won't look like anything you've seen." In the end it was probably best that Dean did this anyway. He knew Sam best, had dressed him when he was a baby. If anything was strange in his brother Dean would see it.

Thirty minuets later Sam was curled up in bed asleep, Dean laying beside him, heading toward sleep himself. Sam had one hand clamped on his brother's arm and even in sleep he was not letting go. Dean didn't seem to mind. The exam had yielded no curse signs, and John was at a loss. He had flipped through his journal looking for anything similar, but found nothing. He was going to have to make some calls. The only reason that he hadn't was because of the response that he knew would come when he mentioned Sam's affliction. He knew that Jim would demand that they come to Blue Earth immediately. Caleb would probably appear on the doorstep as soon as possible, ready to fight whatever had done this, and Bobby, well John was prepared to bet that whatever he said it would not be repeatable to young ears and would involve a shotgun and John's ass.

He wasn't sure what was happening with Sam, but he was sure of one thing, whatever it was he was going to put a stop to it. Whatever it was that had gone after his sons, it had signed its own death warrant. John didn't care if it was a supernatural being or a human witch, they were not going to survive this. No one, no _thing_, messed with his boys. He downed the last of the drink that he had poured himself and turned off the lights. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep. He slumped down into the chair and tried to think what to do.

Chapter 4

The next day showed no improvement in Sam's sight. John's heart ached at the disappointment that he saw on Sam's face when he opened his eyes and could still not see, and ached even more when he saw his baby boy's lip quiver for a moment only to be stilled by his teeth as the boy 'sucked it up'. He suspected that Sam probably cried his eyes out in the shower that Dean led him to, but when he came out he was dry eyed and reasonably composed. He went out and got them some breakfast and he talked to his boys over the food.

He laid out his plans for them to go up to the peach groves that morning. They would get the wood needed and then head toward the camp area. Sam's….disability was going to make this all that much more problematic, however John had to believe that killing the Jiang Shi was the root to solving this whole thing. Dean protested that Sam would not be safe, that he should stay here. When John pointed out that he needed Dean's help with the Jiang Shi, and that meant that Sam would have to stay here alone, Dean reluctantly caved to the idea of bringing Sam, though with bad grace. It never ceased to amuse John how his perfect soldier could become a broody mother hen when it came to taking care of his little brother.

The trip to the peach orchards had been relatively short, and Dean had filled the time by describing the mostly unchanging scenery for his brother. Sam for his part simply sat in the center of the front seat, the back seat being filled with eh mirrors, head leaned up against Dean's shoulder with a look on his face that almost broke John's heart every time he caught sight of it. They reached the orchards around noon and it was easy for John to find an isolated grove that provided the pieces of wood he needed. He set Dean to whittling the ends of three four foot spears into points and also fashion a smaller 'sword' by taking a shorter length and binding a cross guard on it with some leather cord.

Sam sat under one of the trees, next to Dean, and despite Dean's protest was carefully whittling a point on a smaller length of wood that he had told Dean was a 'dagger'. When Dean pointed out that they would just be using the longer sticks because it made more sense Sam just shrugged and made a comment that broke John's heart on several levels. "I can't see now. If I have to stab it it'll have to be close up." What had he done to his boys? Would Mary ever forgive him for it?

Once they were done John got the boys back in the car and they headed toward the campground. Following the map he turned off the main road onto a still new looking road that led into the National Park. He was not surprised when after following the signs he turned into what should have been the campground entrance to find it blocked off with a locked heavy iron gate. The park service had closed the area after the killings as they were still working out what had done it. He looked at Dean and jerked his head at the gate.

"Time for some practice, Dean, can you open that padlock in under five minutes?" Dean grinned at him and scrambled into the glove box for the lock pick kit.

"I can do it in under three." The kid boasted as he slammed out of the car. Sam leaned forward and draped himself over the dashboard, looking unerringly in the direction of where Dean was at the gate with his sightless eyes. John had to admit that whatever this was that allowed Sam to track them had him really nervous. It smacked of supernatural power and in his experience that was never good. But this was his son, so he had to accept it. But he had to be wary. He raised his hand and cupped the back of Sam's head in his hand. The kid was so small, when was he going to hit that growth spurt like Dean had?

Up ahead of the car Dean threw both hands in the air in triumph as the lock gave way. Just under three minutes. He danced around in victory for a few seconds, but when John honked the horn he swung the gate open then closed it after John pulled through. John saw that Dean put the padlock back on and rigged it so it appeared to be locked but wasn't. It should pass all but a close inspection. He nodded his approval when Dean got back in the car. Dean grinned at him, practically glowing at the praise and tossed the lock picks back in the glove box. He patted Sam's arm.

"New record, Sammy. Just under three minutes on a commercial Masterlock." He crowed. Sam rolled his eyes.

"I could do that _now,_ Dean. If it had been me I would have had it in two."

John listened with half an ear as the two boys squabbled over who was better at lock picking, going over his plans in his mind. He had looked at the map of the campground and planned to set up his camp in the most isolated site, which by chance was the one nearest the caves. Even if a ranger came through to inspect the site they should go unnoticed in all but a site to site check. He followed the signs and pulled into the camp site.

Dean was out of the car immediately and opening the door for his brother who slid out. Dean took Sam's arm and led him to a log that was placed near the fire pit for seating, and plopped him down there. He pulled his walkman out of his pocket and put it in Sam's hands.

"You've played around with this enough to know what to do. Don't mess it up." He warned. Sam smiled at him and put on the headphones. That done Dean helped John set up a sparse camp site, with a single tent and a ring of salt around the perimeter of the site, including around the Impala. He was not planning on being here long. If things worked like he was planning he should be able to get in and look over the cave this afternoon with a couple of lanterns to make sure that the Jiang Shi was kept at bay. He would move the mirrors into place as much as possible and figure out the plan of attack. He was sorry to have to bring Dean in on this, it was not something he was familiar with and he could not be sure that he could protect his son in the event things went wrong. While there was never any guarantee with hunting, at least he knew what he could do to protect his boys with most creatures, this thing was new, and it threw him off his game a little.

Once camp was set up John laid out his plans to his sons. Dean and Sam sat side by side on log near the fire he had started to stave off the spring chill. Sam' s head was dropped forward, hiding his face with his bangs, and John was not sure how the boy felt about being consigned to the camp for now in the daylight and being locked in the Impala later that night, while he and Dean went into the caves. Once, Sam had been an open book to John, and anyone else who spent more than a few minutes with him. Even with his strange upbringing and all of his and Dean's warnings, the younger Sam had never really met a stranger. He would talk to almost anyone given the chance and almost everyone would talk to him. John had often reflected that his boy was a hell of an indication regarding the character of a person. If Sam didn't like them, or if they didn't like Sam, then there was something there that was 'hinky', as Dean would always say. But this older Sam was becoming more and more a mystery to John, and he was beginning to dread the teenage years ahead. He was going to have to be tougher on Sam than he had been on Dean, he could see that now.

Dean was eager to get going to the caves, even though he was disappointed that they wouldn't be using the night vision goggles that John had picked up at the general delivery post office on their way here, other than for some practice. He promised Sam that he would remember everything and describe it all when he got back, trying to make his brother feel better about being left behind. John picked up Sam's Ruger .38 automatic. It was a small gun but with a lot of kick and he had loaded it with the salt rounds and blessed iron rounds that he had made himself. He wasn't sure that they would have any effect on the Jiang Shi, but they would afford his son some protection in case there were other things around that hunted in the light of day, and there was always the danger of human interference. He crouched down in front of the boy and lifted his hand. He put the gun in it and closed the small fingers around it.

"Safety is on and there is one in the chamber. If someone or something comes into the camp and you have any doubts you shoot first and worry about it later. This…thing you have going should allow you to aim for center mass. Keep shooting till it isn't moving anymore." While they had been on the road they had stopped at a diner for lunch and Sam had told them that he could 'feel' the other people in the diner with them. It had kind of creeped John out, but Dean had found it fascinating, calling it Sammy's 'Shaolin mojo'. At least Sam was not completely blind however. John slid an extra clip into the boy's coat pocket and patted it. "You have an extra clip. Okay?" Sam nodded. "You stay in the tent or if you are more comfortable, in the Impala. You know if you go past either you'll be outside the salt line, so don't do that. Understand?" Another nod. "Your brother will be back after we get set up to make sure that you are set for the night."

John and Dean picked up their gear, including the four mirrors. John also packed the night vision glasses figuring they could try them out, and not wanting to have to have Dean get them later. It would be a five minute hike to the cave entrance along the gravel path that the park service had put in, complete with guide rails on each side to keep people from waling around in the scrub brush and mesquite that made up the local vegetation.

When they got there the big double wooden door that had been set in place to keep people from entering without the ranger/guide was locked. John had brought the lock pick set and allowed Dean to open the door. The kid was really pretty good at it already. The door opened to a pitch blackness, and John felt a frisson of uneasiness up his spine. Even though most of his hunts were at night, nothing he had hunted inhabited such absolute blackness. He got out one of the large flashlight/lanterns that he had brought along and stepped inside, Dean right on his heels with his own light. To the left was an electrical panel with a master switch that was helpfully labeled 'Main lights.' He reached over and threw the switch. The lights flickered on above them. From what sounded like a very distant place there came a keening wail that could only be made by something that seriously disapproved of even the pale lighting that the overhead bulbs provided. John and Dean exchanged glances. Well guess that proved that there was something in there. He figured that the creature wanted full darkness, so they would have to go in at least a few hundred feet where the cave took a turn away from the opening which had been widened by the park service. There was a convenient map on the wall next to the light panel and John studied it.

He noticed that there was another tunnel, not open to the public that ran side by side to the one they were in. A door had been built similar to the one they had broken into sealing it off, and he could see no reason to use it as there were no lights in it and it would be a little too much to the Jiang Shi's advantage to use that side. After locating the area he felt would be best on the map they humped the mirrors and the packs about three hundred yards down the main trail to an area where the cave opened out to a wider area. The light from the hanging bulbs seemed to barely light the larger "room" that seemed to be the best place to set up.

There were only a few stalactites and smaller stalagmites in the room which was not surprising as the map indicated that the showier stuff started another few hundred yards in. There was a natural alcove that was almost square with one open side with stalactites to either side of it. There was about a two foot of space between the wall and the stalactite on one side, which wasn't ideal and would be a tight squeeze, but it would give them the space to use the peach tree spear if they could get the creature inside and would allow John to slip out after he baited it in, which was his plan. He would be the bait while Dean stood by to move the forth mirror into place and light up the space so that the creature could see itself. It obviously reacted badly to light and it should give John enough time to slip out and deploy the spear which would be kept to hand. A small shelf-like projection on the wall above one of the mirrors would give them a place to put one of the high intensity lanterns, and Dean could turn it on with one hand. It looked like this plan would work, as long as the night vision glasses worked.

John positioned one of the peach tree spears beside the opening and put the shorter "sword" inside the improvised mirror box, leaning it against the back wall in case he needed something to fend it off. They leaned the forth mirror against the wall near the trap, making sure it could not be knocked over by mistake. John surveyed the area, trying to make sure that he had the topography set in his mind. Even with the glasses he wanted to be sure he knew the path he would take into the trap. He meant to go about a hundred feet further into the cave before turning out the lights and waiting for the creature to come before he headed for the box. He was confident that he could out maneuver it for that long at least. He glanced at his watch. They had about two hours before sundown.

He would not leave the mirrors unattended, why give the creature a chance to smash them before they could be used, if it could grasp their purpose. John was never sure how much these things could understand. Some seemed to operate on pure instinct while others were thinking and plotting creatures. Obviously it had no trouble moving in the darkness, and John did not want to stretch this hunt out by having to go get more mirrors. They needed to practice with the glasses now. He had used them in the Marines and was reasonably sure that he could function with them well, but Dean had no such experience and it did take some getting used to as you had to direct the light generator where you wanted to see and you had almost no peripheral vision. He unlimbered another of the lanterns that he had and set it in the middle of the path, turning it on, and did the same with the one on the ledge. That brought the light level up considerably. That should make a pretty good blockade, keeping the creature trapped in the lower reaches of the cave, so that they could practice in front part of the cave.

Half an hour later John was watching Dean in the green light of the night vision glasses as his son maneuvered around the cave, looking at everything with his own set. Predictably the boy had taken to them like a pro, and was enjoying the practice. He seemed to have no problem with throwing his knife, or using his gun. Target practice had been a bit noisy with the echoes, but it had been necessary. John reached out and grabbed Dean as he wondered by, clicking off his glasses and pulling them off as he reached for the light switch. Dean followed suit.

"Time is up Dean. You need to go back and check on Sam. I'll stay here and watch the mirrors and get ready for the hunt. I'll leave the one lantern here for you to use. When you come in turn on the lantern and then turn off the overhead lights. You come right to me and we'll get started. Do you understand?" Dean nodded. John tousled the spiky hair. "Get your brother inside the Impala and make sure the doors are locked. Make sure he's had something to eat and get something for yourself before you come back. I don't know how long it is going to take to bait this thing in. Could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, so we need to be prepared." Dean nodded again and headed out back to camp. John watched him go until he disappeared around a curve in the path and then went back to the trap.

Chapter 5-

Sam was sitting on the log next to the remains of the fire when Dean returned to the camp. He was just sitting there, blind eyes staring into space, and Dean knew that had it been him in the same situation he would have gone nuts a long time ago, however Sam lived in his head a lot more than he did, and the little geek was probably reciting some Latin poetry that he had read somewhere. The creepy new spidey sense that Sam had evidently kicked in because by the time Dean was forty feet from the camp Sam had turned around to look in his direction.

"Dean, did you get it all set up?" he asked when Dean stepped inside the salt circle. Dean was glad to see the Sam's pistol was sitting on the log right beside his hand, even though it had looked like he was unprotected. He sat down beside his brother and allowed him to lean against his side. One of their back packs was leaning against the log and Dean dug around until he found a few power bars and some chips. Not exactly a great dinner, but it should do for now, and they had survived on less in the past, though Dean tried hard to make sure Sammy had enough food even if Dean had to go without. He was sure that they were going to get this thing ganked and be out of here in the morning. They could have some pancakes and eggs at the diner in the town back down the road a ways. He handed Sam a power bar and opened up the bag of chips, putting it in Sam's lap.

As they ate he described what he and John had set up and about his use of the glasses. He noticed Sam was frowning. He bumped up against his brother's shoulder and tried to be conciliatory

"Don't worry Sammy, once we gank this thing we'll find that old dude and make him fix you up right as rain. Then you can try out the night vision goggles before dad sends 'em back to wherever he got them." Even before he was finished Sam was shaking his head.

"Don't care about trying them out. I don't think they are going to work Dean. Light is light whether you can see it or not, its physics, a natural law, and these things go with the natural laws. If you have the glasses on you won't see it because it will be avoiding where the light goes. It can sneak up on you and you'll never know."

"I already told you about the high tech stuff Sammy, ain't no way it can know about that, and anyway dad and I will be watchin' each other's back. Won't be nothing sneakin' up on us. We know what we are doing. Now eat your dinner and go take care of business before we get you in the car. I'll leave you my walkman again, and we'll be back before you know it." Dean put every bit of confidence in his voice he could marshal. He knew that John was sure the glasses would work, and Dean had every confidence in his dad as a hunter, but then Sammy was smart as a whip, and there was the tiniest bit of doubt niggling in Dean's mind, but he could not let his brother hear it. He could not have Sammy sitting here worrying all the time.

Sam did as his brother asked and finished his makeshift meal and then took care of business in the nearby one-hole bathroom while Dean stood guard. Then Dean led him to the car and let him climb into the front seat.

"Don't get no ideas about riding up here all the time." Dean warned his brother. "This is MY seat, and geeks ride in the back when the car is movin'" Sam shot him a bitch-face which made Dean feel better, but once he shut the door he could not help but feel some disquiet when he looked back at his little brother sitting alone in the car. What if something happened to him and John? Who would take care of Sammy? How would he get any help? Dean pushed aside the doubts and headed back toward the cave. He could not think negatively. He had to believe in his dad. They would gank this thing for sure.

Sam listened to his brother walk away, feeling the energy that was the essence of his brother faded out of the reach of this strange thing he had going, his 'Shaolin mojo'. He didn't know what this thing was, or why he had it, but he was grateful he was not completely blind. But he knew he was next to useless for hunting, and if this thing didn't resolve itself with the death of the Jiang Shi then Sam was not sure what his father would do with him. Just because he could 'feel' where people were didn't mean that he was okay to be left alone all the time. He still couldn't do anything for himself. This had to end, soon.

Sam turned Dean's walkman over and over in his hands, not really feeling like playing it now. He could feel the air getting cooler around him and he knew that the sun must be setting. His family would be confronting the creature soon. He wanted to be there, to help, but what could he do like this? He was settling in for a good long brood when his mind was almost overcome by the sudden appearance of what if he could see would have been a blinding white light. It was like walking through a tunnel and coming face to face with a train coming the other way. He instinctively threw up his hands to shield his eyes even though they were not seeing it. It seemed to be coming from just outside the car.

Once Sam got a grip on the surprise the glare of the light seemed to dim and he could 'feel' a figure standing just outside the door. Where Dean's presence was represented in his mind by a swirl of greens, blues, and his father was a tall pillar of blues and grays with an occasional flash of red, this figure was solid white. Where Dean and John projected feelings of familiarity, comfort, and 'home', this one projected power, and something that Sam could only catalog as 'good', maybe even 'benevolence'. He suddenly mentally pictured the old man that he had run into at the flea market, and he knew, though he was not sure how, that it was he that was outside the car. He dropped Dean's walkman on the seat and reached for the door handle. John would probably beat his butt for it, but he knew he had to get out and speak to the old man. The bright light seemed to move back to allow his exit from the car and he was soon standing in front of what he was sure was the old man. He reached out a hand.

"Uh…I think we met back in town, at the market, didn't we?" he asked when the other said nothing. He knew he was inside the salt circle and nothing evil could pass inside, but the silence suddenly made him nervous. A deep but gentle laugh answered him.

"Yes child we have met. You are indeed advanced much beyond your years." He recognized the old man's voice.

"Did you do this to me, make me blind?" Sam asked, unable to keep the quaver out of his voice. He felt an old gnarled hand grip his own with strength that was surprising given the size.

"Indeed, it was I that gave you the gift however I see that you are not using it as intended. To waste such a gift is ungrateful, and insulting to the giver." Sam frantically shook his head, even while a part of him was pointing out that he really was not so very grateful for not being able to see, thanks very much.

"I…I am sure that your gift is very much appreciated, I just…I just don't know how to use it. I don't really even know what it is…really. I am sorry." The old hand released his and came up to cup his cheek. It was an intimate gesture which should have made Sam very nervous, especially in his present state however he found that it was strangely comforting.

"Quiet child, I was teasing. I am not offended. If any should apologize it is I. I saw only your fighting spirit, and what you will be years from now, and forgot that it is housed at this time in a delicate vessel that is protected by your family, and rightly so. However, your soul is pure despite the taint of your blood otherwise the gift would have gone unclaimed. Let us see that it does not go unused." Sam frowned, not really understanding what the man was saying. It seemed that the old man HAD been the one to curse him, but it was like it was supposed to be a GOOD thing. This just was not making any sense. His confusion must have shown through as the old man patted his cheek.

"Your family seeks to destroy the Jiang Shi, which needs be done, but they do not know its ways. They seek to cheat nature, but she is a strict rulekeeper and it will not work." Sam thought about that.

"The infrared glasses! They won't work. I told them so!" he cried out.

"The Jiang Shi has been banished from the light of day by its evil deeds. The light which is not seen is still part of that which comes from the sun. The Jiang Shi would burn in its heat, and it will see it and will avoid it. In counting on this magic your family will only make a target of themselves for the evil one."

"I have to help them!" Sam said. Dean had described the path to the caves. He had said it started about fifty feet in front of the Impala and was a gravel walkway with hand rails. Sam could follow them in, as long as he could find the path. He put his hand on the Impala and started toward the front, trying to fix his bearing from there. He had to find the path! He was stopped before he had taken more than one step by a hand on his shoulder.

"In haste there is error, child." The old man said. "Your course is admirable, but your navigation is not as it should be. Allow me to lend you a guiding hand." The old man led him forward, and soon Sam had his hand on one of the guide rails. It would take him to the cave. He nervously felt for the little peach wood 'dagger' he had tucked in his belt. It was his only weapon against he Jiang Shi and he had to be sure it was at hand. He looked toward the old man.

"Are you coming too?" He asked, trying not to sound like he was begging. He was not sure how he knew, but despite the lame and aged appearance of the old man that shining power that he could feel told him that the old man would make a good ally. But he was disappointed when the old man spoke.

"No, my presence would defeat the purpose of your journey. The Jiang Shi can not be in my presence. There is a light that comes from a place not the sun child and it burns brightly in me. Normal humans project it to a much lesser degree and the Jiang Shi feeds off of it. _You_ project such a light, though you will lose it in the future only to regain it from Cheng Huang when he makes a deal with your brother to avert the end of this world." Sam had no idea what that all meant, except that he would have to do this alone. Blind. He heard the old man begin to move away.

"Wait! I don't even know your name." Or much else when it got right down to it, but he would settle for a name for now.

"Many call me Lǐ Tiěguǎi, but my name is Lǐ Xuán. Goodbye, Samuel Winchester. Remember, the Jiang Shi has no light, it craves what you have. That is its weakness and what will reveal it to your inner sight." The brilliant white light was suddenly gone, leaving Sam alone. His mind whirled. Lǐ Tiěguǎi, Li Xuan, but that meant….He shook it off. He could not stop and contemplate that now.

He went along the path, his hand on the rail most of the time. It took him twice the time it would have taken his father and brother, and he was sweating every moment of it. He finally reached the open area in front of the caves. He was at something of a loss when the rail stopped, not knowing how he was supposed to figure out where the cave was from here. He was debating simply launching himself forward and hoping for the best when he realized that he didn't need to do that. He could 'feel' Dean. The energy that was his brother was fading away fast, but it was enough for Sam to get a bearing on his position, and he went as fast as he could in the direction his brother was going. By the time he literally bumped into the door the ball of energy that was Dean was gone, but Sam was at least at the cave now. He tugged open the door and went in, feeling the temperature drop as he entered and pulled the door closed. He was pretty sure that it was nearly dark outside, but he did not want to mess up his father's plan. There was still the chance it would work, the old man might have been wrong. Sam put his hand on the left wall of the cave and held his peach wood 'dagger' in his right. It was time to join his family on the hunt.

Chapter 6

Dean was not sure what was going on, but his trip back to the cave had been the longest short walk he had ever made. First he had found himself in desperate need of the bathroom just after he left Sam. He had been forced to divert from the path to use the facilities, a process that was much longer than it should have been given what he had had for dinner. Who had ever heard of a bad energy bar or a bad potato chip? He hoped it would not hit Sam the same way.

Finally able to leave the one-hole bathroom he had headed back to the cave as quickly as possible, only to be met with shoe laces that would not stay tied more than a few steps. He had finally knotted them into a huge mess that he was pretty sure would insure he never got to remove his shoes again, but at least they could not come undone. Only a few feet further he had been forced to stop when a very large rattle snake appeared in the middle of the path, evidently enjoying the warmth of the gravel now that the sun was gone and it was cooling into night. Dean had been forced to find a long stick and prod the surly sucker out of his way. He was tempted to shoot it, but it wasn't evil, just inconvenient, and alsot he shot would probably scare Sam and he didn't want that.

Once that was handled he had hurried on, arriving back at the cave entrance. He tried to turn on the lantern before he turned off the lights but it would not work. Dean knew that the batteries in it were new as he had loaded them in himself. It had not been left on, and there should be plenty of juice. He knew he could go and get one of the other lanterns from his dad, but he was determined to stick to the plan if he could. He pulled the lantern apart and after what seemed like forever finally found a connector that had come loose, keeping the circuit from completing and turning on. He fixed it as best he could and was happy to see the light come on. He turned off the main switch and headed back toward his father, the adrenaline that flowed from the prospect of hunt beginning to flow in his blood. He was ready to gank this thing and get out of here.

He was about halfway to where they had set up the trap when he thought he heard the door to the cave open behind him, but that made no sense. There was no one else here but Sam. He stopped and listened, but heard no further noises and the lights didn't get turned on, so he kept going. Within a few moments he was back to the trap where John was waiting. His father rose to his feet as he approached. John had his pistol in his right hand and one of the peach wood spears in his left.

"Put your lantern over there," He said pointing to a place across the cave from the trap. "I don't know how violent this thing might get and if one or two get broken that one will be all we have to keep it off us. Take this. Don't put it down until you have to move the mirror in place and turn on the lantern." John handed him another of the spears. John looked around, checking everything. He already had his glasses hanging around his neck. He handed the second set to Dean and watched to make sure that they were on correctly. He pulled his own into place. "Put your hand on the switch and as soon as I turn out the last lantern turn it on." He turned off one of the lanterns and moved to the last one. He jerked his head to Dean to move up against the far wall, protecting his back, and turned off the light, his hand immediately going to the glasses to turn them on. The cave appeared before him painted in the familiar green tones.

They stood in silence for a long moment, listening for any sound that indicated that the creature was approaching. There was nothing. John looked toward Dean who was scanning the area deeper into the cave. Evidently it would take a while for the thing to make its move. John hissed at Dean who looked his way. John motioned for him to move over next to the forth mirror, in position for when it appeared. John started to move down the cave as he had planned. He kept his head moving as he went, trying to make sure he was not missing any side tunnel or cranny where the creature could hide and get behind him. The cave was wider here than the first part of the cave, and there were a lot of formations and openings where the creature could hide.

He was almost a hundred feet down the cave when he heard it first. The sound was like a long drawn out moan. It echoed around and John could not tell where it was coming from though he got the impression that it was ahead of him and to his right. He focused on that area and this time got a wail which made him flinch at the sharpness of the echo. It high pitched and piercing, and more importantly. closer. He swung his glasses to the left, but again nothing was there. Another sound and he swung around again only to see nothing. Some part of him that had developed over his years as a hunter felt something to his left in the darkness and he swung at it with the peach branch, though he could not get the point around to use it effectively. The branch slammed into something not made of rock which wailed in pain or anger but when he managed to turn the glasses around there was nothing there. It had gotten around him. He started running back toward the trap.

"Dean it is coming your way! Get your back against the wall and use your spear!" He yelled down the cave, desperate to make sure his son was ready for the thing. As John ran he mentally reviewed what had happened, and he knew that Sam had been right, the creature was reacting to the infrared light just like the regular light, and it was using the fact that they were blind beyond the reach of the infrared generator to stalk them. He needed to get the lanterns back on and regroup on this. He increased his speed as he heard Dean yell out followed by the now familiar wail. He heard one crashing sound and then another, but was not sure what they were. He cursed and ran harder.

Sam, still making slow headway toward where he hoped his father and brother were, heard the first moan and knew he was too late. Moments later a piercing wail that made him want to cover his ears echoed through the cave. The thing was attacking, he was sure of it. He moved forward as fast as he could, stumbling over outcrops and rocks. His jeans were torn at the knees from the times he had fallen, but he ignored the pain from his equally torn knees. He heard John yell at Dean to protect himself, and his heart sank. He was too far away; he was going to be too late! The thing was after Dean!

He almost gasped as the wall seemed to fall away from him, and he assumed that the cave opened up here and the path moved farther from the walls. But he could hear Dean yelling somewhere close by, and the snarling, hissing and wailing of what had to be the creature. He shuffled slowly ahead, feet scuffling at the path. He must have cleared a turn in the tunnel because suddenly there was Dean, a pillar of blue green fire that was swiping at…..nothing. It was really weird, and Sam had to stop and try to understand what he was "seeing/feeling" in his mind. His talent had kicked up a notch so that now he was presented with a picture of sorts in his mind instead of just feelings. Sam could 'see' Dean clearly. The fire of his energy was in the familiar form of his brother, though the edges were not as distinct as regular sight provided. The thing that was in front of Dean, and Sam had to assume Dean was in a defensive position against the wall as John had said, was a deep pit of darkness. It was like those illustrations of a black hole in space. Space was dark, but the black hole was darker still, and like those black holes in space when they were near a star, he could see that the dark nothingness that was the Jiang Shi was drawing off energy from Dean. It was taking his Chi!

Another pillar of energy that was shaped vaguely like his father came into the fight, and Sam heard the creature keen in what he assumed was pain as the infrared light fell on it. Lǐ Tiěguǎi had been right, it could see the infrared. The blackness moved away from Dean, moving in a zig zag pattern that told Sam it must be avoiding the sweep of the light from the glasses. It was moving toward John.

"It took out two of the lanterns!" Dean yelled to his father, who he could evidently see now.

"Keep your head moving, it can see the lights. We have to get that last lantern turned on and regroup." John snapped. He was moving toward the place that Sam assumed the last lantern was when he saw the creature approach him from behind.

"It's behind you, dad!" He yelled out, unable to let the thing suck off his father's energy. He didn't know how much was too much, but he didn't want to take any chances. He shuffled toward where Dean was.

"Sam!"

"Sammy!"

Two yells echoed through the cave as Sam tried to keep track of the black thing. He ignored Dean's demand that he get out as he concentrated on trying to follow the creature as it dove away from John's swing with his peach wood sword.

"Dean get the damn lantern on! Sam you stay back there." John was swinging wildly, turning his head as he tried to keep the creature from moving back toward his boys. It had gone silent now, as it stalked them. John could see Dean moving toward the lantern now, and caught sight of Sam, one hand out in front of himself, moving not toward Dean but instead toward the mirror trap. He knew Sam could feel where Dean was in his peculiar way, so he suspected that Sam was somehow trying to lure the creature away. Obviously the boy could locate the Jiang Shi, too.

"Sam, no!" He barked, and saw Dean stop. "Dean get the damn light." He reminded his eldest. The cave was too wide for him to keep both of them in the beam of his infrared light. One of them was going to be vulnerable. The angle of Dean's progress was now keeping John in the beam of the infrared generator on Dean's glasses, so John was safe at the moment, but that was not the point, _he_ was not the one that was supposed to be safe. Dean was now fumbling around in the area where he had put the lantern, but he did not seem to be making any progress. John flailed around with the limb, reluctant to move in case it allowed the creature to slip past him. That was if it wasn't already there. "Dean! What the hell?"

"I can't get it to turn on!" Dean yelled. John could see he was taking the damn thing apart and trying to fix whatever was wrong. "It had a loose connector. I had to fix it before I came in."

Sam had reached the trap, and John saw him running his hands over the edges, and feeling at the mirrors, the wall of the cave and found the narrow gap that would allow escape. Obviously he had figured out where he was, and John growled in frustration as Sam stepped into the box.

"Let it come to me, dad, and then we can kill it." Sam said calmly, as if that had been the plan all along.

"Sam…" John bit out, but Sam interrupted him.

"It's the only way. It's the way _he_ meant it to be. That's why he did this to me. We can't turn our back on the gift, it would be an insult." Sam's voice was urgent, and very calm. John looked again at Dean, who was backed against the cave wall frantically trying to rebuild the lantern.

"Dad you can't!" Dean said, looking up from the lantern.

"Fix the damn light, Dean." John snarled. He was torn. He did not want to use his youngest son as bait, but something was telling him that this was going to be their only chance. Once the thing was in the box they could keep it there with the infrared and even turn on the overhead lights if Dean could not repair the lantern. The creature had to die, and that meant…

"All right Sam." He said, and he heard Dean curse vilely. He made note to watch his mouth around his sons in the future, and to tell Caleb to keep his filthy mouth shut too. "I'm coming there and I'll be ready with the forth mirror. You slip out as soon as it is in there. I'm going to hold my glasses up so the infrared lights shine down on it. That should keep it occupied until we can stab it. You understand?"

"Yes Sir." Sam replied as he slipped back in the trap. John moved quickly up to the side where the forth mirror was, keeping his light moving between his sons. He reached the trap and looked at Sam. His youngest was standing in the trap, body balanced like John had taught him, peach wood dagger held ready. John felt both a surge of pride at his boy's courage and a deep sorrow that his baby boy had to know about stuff like that at his young age. "Remember Sam, you are not to engage it. You let it come in and then you get out. Understand" Sam nodded. "I am going to step to the side, Dean I want you to turn your light to my left keeping me on the right edge of your sight. I'll keep mine toward you. Sam, yell when it is in there."

"Not a problem." Sam said waveringly. This prompted Dean to reply.

"You got this Sammy. That 'Giant Sheep' ain't got nothing on a Winchester!" He called. John could see that Dean was putting the lantern back together as he spoke, and hoped that it would be working soon. Sam gave a weak laugh at Dean's intentional mispronunciation.

"Dean, you turn that on when I say then you come over and take the mirror for me. I'll stab the damn thing once Sam is out. If the lantern doesn't work then I want you to use the spear and I'll keep the light on it. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right, here we go." He moved to his position with the mirror and turned his gaze to Dean making sure to move the sphere of his light as far over as he could and still keep Dean in the beam. He had to trust that Dean was doing the same despite his concern for his brother.

"It's coming, from the left." Sam said. His voice trembled, but John could not hear any movement from the trap. Sam was standing his ground. What a brave damn boy he had, two of them. "Ten feet" Sam reported. "I think it's wary of the light. It's moving really slow."

Suddenly Sam yelled out and the keening wail that they had heard echoed around the cave. Sam must have struck it with his dagger. John spun around with the forth mirror, yelling for Sam to get out. As he got into position and was taking his glasses off, in case he needed to use them to contain the creature, the cave was flooded with light from the lantern. The keening kicked up to a deafeningly shrill level and John had to brace himself against the mirror as something slammed into it. He heard Dean curse, and assumed the boy had forgotten how bright regular light would look with the glasses on, but he was focusing on the narrow opening. He saw Sam's arm, then his head and shoulders emerge from the opening. The boy was almost all the way out when he was jerked partially back in, but Dean was suddenly there, pulling on his brother's arm and he pulled him clear as Sam was yelling something about the creature holding him.

The thing slammed into the outer mirror again, and John was glad he had gotten the ones backed by wood as he was sure a plain mirror would have shattered by now. As he shoved back with all his strength he knew that Dean would not be able to hold it in place for long and he yelled for his eldest to gank the sonofabitch. He caught sight of Dean's wide eager grin as the boy grabbed the spear and leaned into the opening. The high pitched scream intensified even more as Dean stabbed again and again then died away. Dean stabbed into the trap a few more times then backed away with a disgusted look.

"It's gone. It turned to a pile of dust." He said with a sneer as a cloudy of moldy smelling dust rose out of the trap. John backed away, putting the mirror aside to look down at the pile of waxy looking ashes that was inside. It wasn't the strangest thing he had ever seen happen to a supernatural creature, but it was kind of weird. Sam, who was sitting on the ground leaned around his brother's legs and was looking in the trap too his nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Guess it reverts to what it should have been if it had actually died like it was supposed to. Kinda like a vampire in the sun." He observed. John crouched reached down and took his son's chin in his hand and pulled his face around. Sam's hazel eyes were clear and bright in the light of the lantern. He smiled at his father.

"You can see again." John said, sure of what he was seeing. Sam nodded and Dean gave a whoop of joy and pulled his brother up to do a victory dance around the cave. John let them frolic for several minutes then gave a whistle to calm them down. They turned to him with smiles, and he let loose one of his own too rare smiles in return. It was worth celebrating after all. "We need to pack up and head out. Let's get this stuff back to the camp site and if you aren't too tired we'll go ahead and pack it up and head for the nearest town."

"All right!" Dean crowed as he started scooping up things. "Real food! I want waffles, no, _pancakes_ for breakfast, with eggs and sausage and bacon and maybe some hash browns." He nudged his brother who was helping him pick up the peach wood spears as John started pulling the mirrors out of the alcove. "What do you want Sammy?" Sam shrugged.

"Oatmeal and some whole wheat toast I guess." He said.

"What!" Dean asked as if his brother had requested something completely inedible, which to Dean it probably was. "You can't eat oatmeal and toast at a diner, you gotta eat the good stuff. You know like…"

John smiled to himself as he listened to Dean list off a whole menu of diner foods with Sam declaring that he just wanted oatmeal at odd intervals. The giggles and snorts of derision warmed him as he cleaned up the evidence of the hunt. His baby boy could see again, they were all whole and uninjured, and the creature was dead. Life was good.

Epilog-

Later on, stopped at a small park in a small town about thirty miles away from the campground, John was writing up the hunt in his journal while his boys caught a few hours of sleep in the back of the Impala before the diner down the block opened at six. He was not sure of what to make of Sam's story about the old man that he had told them as they had trudged back to camp and packed up the small tent.

He had chastised Sam for getting out of the Impala, and Sam had acknowledged that he really shouldn't have, but he had argued that it had paid off in the end, a point that John could not dispute. He really was not sure what they would have done if Sam had not been able to make his way to the cave and act as bait.

John paused after he described the Jiang Shi and the method used to kill it as he though about what to write about the old man. Sam had said that he had figured out who the old man was. Dean had made a rather rude comment about Fu Manchu again and Sam had scowled at his brother and told him that he should shut up since the old man's help had gotten them the creature, and they really did not want to piss him off because of their ingratitude. Dean had told Sam that he did _not_ appreciate the old man's methods, and Sam had gone off on how that was the way things were done where and when the old man came from. John had asked him what he meant by _when_ the old man came from and Sam's eyes had practically glowed with the excitement of what he knew and sharing it with his family.

He had explained that the old man had told Sam both what he was called _and_ what his name actually was. Evidently this was a dead giveaway, to those who knew anything about it, insert preteen eye roll here, that the old man was one of the Chinese mythological figures that were kind of like demi-gods. This one in particular was one of a group called the "Eight Immortals". Lǐ Tiěguǎi, or Iron-crutch Li. Sam thought that because there was a high number of Chinese descendants in the area from the original workers, that the demi-god was hanging around and had used them to destroy the evil Jiang Shi since he could not do it himself due to the two beings being total opposites and unable to come close to each other. In any event the old man matched all of the descriptions of Iron-Crutch Li, raggedy beard, lame leg, gourd hung around his neck, and a few other things that Sam described from the stories that he had been reading in the big book he had found at the flea market. He had in fact been reading about the eight immortals just before John had found him and let him buy the book. It could not have been a coincidence.

John was not sure how much of that he believed. He had heard of several demi-gods that other hunters had come across before, and he himself had chased one of the Coyotes down near the Hopi reservation in Arizona. It made sense that other ones existed, he just was not sure if he believed that the old man was one of them. Benevolent intent aside John was not comfortable with anything supernatural touching his boys, and he was determined to make sure it did not happen again.

He squinted as a shaft of sunlight from the newly risen sun cut across his eyes. When he opened his eyes he was startled to see the old Chinese man standing in front of the car. As soon as their eyes met the old man smiled and bowed deeply to John. John, unsure what to do, blinked and the old man was gone as suddenly as he had appeared. John turned his head looking all around, but the old man was gone. Okaaaay.

He made a note in his journal about a Chinese demi-god named Iron-crutch Li, and how he was not above helping out a hunter if the purpose was one he agreed with. Of course that did not mean he was to be trusted, but in this instance his interference had turned the tables.

John closed his journal and looked into the back seat where the boys were slumped together still sleeping soundly. He slid down in his seat, pulling out his pistol and putting it on the seat beside his leg where he could get it quickly if necessary. He wouldn't sleep, but he could rest for awhile before Dean was awake and wanting breakfast. He closed his eyes and thought about Mary, the road ahead, and as always, his boys.

The End


End file.
